13 Guilt-Free Alternatives to Snacking on an Apple

It’s 3pm, the office coffee pot has long been drained and an apple and baby carrots sound so boring. Don’t let that midday slump get you down. To help you power through the last few hours of your day, I rounded up 13 amazing healthy snacks to mitigate all those unquenchable salty and sweet cravings. Your waistline, boss and–believe it or not–your taste buds, will thank us. Bonus: most are available in travel size for convenience and portion control.

These chewy banana bites are literally just dehydrated bananas, meaning they boast potassium, fiber, vitamins and antioxidants without any added sugar. While the plain variety is the healthiest option, the soft snacks are also available in apple-cinnamon, coconut, peanut butter, chocolate and coffee flavors.

Brami Beans

You’ve probably never thought of noshing on beans, but that’s just what you’ll be doing if you snack on Brami Beans, a lupini bean-based snack packed with micro-nutrients, minerals and more fiber and protein than almost all nuts. The crunchy snacks are available in sea salt, garlic and herb, chili lime and hot pepper.

Go Raw

Cooking destroys many essential enzymes, which is why Go Raw stocks more than 40 raw products (99.9% of nuts on the market aren’t actually raw!) which are all loaded with enzymes that help the body properly digest and assimilate food for optimal nutritional value. Everything in Go Raw’s lineup is non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan and products come in a variety of categories including sprouted bars, sprouted cookies and even raw chocolate.

Simply 7 Snacks

After successfully launching Kale Chips—the first real kale and potato chip on the market—Simply 7 has a new innovation: Organic Veggie Chips. Think of these chips as a better alternative to your classic vending machine choice. Each chip is made using organic potatoes, spinach, tomatoes and spices and packaged in ridged form.

Organic Gemini

Organic Gemini is a Brooklyn-based startup that makes a variety of tiger nut-based snacks. Despite what its name suggests, tiger nuts aren’t tigers or nuts, they’re actually crunchy vegetables with a sweet coconut taste, making them a versatile base for a wide variety of snacks. All Organic Gemini products are high in a particular form of fiber known as resistant starch, which is a prebiotic that resists digestion and helps our bodies to naturally develop probiotic bacteria ensuring a strong immune system. Aside from raw snacks, they’ve got beverages, flour, oil and smoothie mixes.

Justin’s

Forget Reese’s and preservative filled jarred peanut butters, and reach for Justin’s Snack Packs. Available in Chocolate Hazelnut Butter and Pretzels, Classic Almond Butter and Pretzels and Maple Almond Butter and Pretzels, the bites contain less sugar than competitors. Protein packed Squeeze Packs are also available.

Blue Diamond

We all know that nuts are full of health benefits, but exercising portion control can be a challenge. Enter these 100 calorie packs of almonds, perfectly portioned for on-the-go snacking. Rotate between flavors like honey-roasted and smokehouse to beat boredom.

Lundberg Family Farms

Among the brand’s health-minded products are Thin Stackers, which are made with organic whole grain brown rice. They can be eaten on their own (they’re gluten-free), or they can be a great base for deli meat, veggies, nut butter or sliced fruit. Those watching their sodium intake will love the lightly salted and salt-free options.

Arctic Zero

Most ice cream alternatives taste like frozen flavored water, but that’s not the case with Arctic Zero, even though many flavors have just 150 calories for a whole pint. The brand just welcomed new flavors to their line of low-calorie, low-fat, non-GMO, gluten-and-lactose-free frozen desserts, and let’s just say they’ll send your sweet tooth into overdrive. Think Brownie Blast, Snicker Doodle Dandy, Banana Pudding and Cake Batter. Arctic Zero also boosted its assortment of chocolate-dipped bars with Mint and Salted Caramel. It’s about as guilt-free as eating a pint (or two…or three…) of ice cream can get.

Jax Coco

Jax Coco may be a niche food brand, but they have some serious star power when it comes to their fans; everyone from Elton John to Stella McCartney has been seen munching on their all-natural vegan snacks. Their flavors sooth both salt and sweet cravings simultaneously without being loaded with the trans-fats and calories found in bulk snacks.

Rhythm Superfoods

We all know about kale chips, and while Rhythm Superfoods has a solid line-up of those, they also go beyond expectations with a variety of veggie-based snacks including Beet, Broccoli Bites and more innovative veggie snacks full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

Nutchello

Most of time when we think we’re hungry, we’re actually just thirsty. Of course you can never go wrong with water, but if you’re looking for something that packs a bit more flavor, enter Silk. The brand just came out with a new line of dairy-free beverages called Nutchello. Available in three flavors—Caramel Almond Cashew, Dark Chocolate Walnut and Toasted Coconut Cashew—they’re all nut-based “milks” with no artificial flavors, colors or added caffeine, and all of them have less calories and sugar than regular milk.

Scratch & Grain

If you’re looking to get your hands a little dirty, Scratch & Grain makes homemade baking as easy and healthy as possible. The all-natural baking kits use organic, pre-portioned and individually packaged ingredients and come with things like chia seeds to boost fiber and protein levels. Their kits include muffins, brownies, cornbread and a variety of cookie options.